Arlington Pit Stop Route Questions

[baiskeli]

@rcannon100 52128 wrote:

Lynn St and Lee Hwy scares the crap out of me. Cars constantly run the red light – its not a question of whether a car will run the red but how many. I have seen cars run through the red WAY after it went red. Cars in the right lane on Lee west bound will creep forward attempting to jump the light, and slam into anyone in the crosswalk. Cars behind those cars that have properly yielded, will start honking and acting aggressively in order to force the first properly-yielding car to move.

Yeah, and the cars turning right from the east to the bridge are a hazard because they are looking to their left for a chance to turn and may not see you on their right crossing–especially if you are approaching from the east and in their right shoulder blind spot. That’s when they have a green. They are often stuck in traffic getting to the intersection, and eager to turn right once they get there, but then they have to yield to the bikes and peds and wait for room behind cars already in the road toward the bridge, or even wait for traffic that is blocking the intersection to clear. So as they see they are about to get another red light, they may try to rush through. That’s a bad time to be going through the intersection in front of a desperate, frustrated driver in a steel box. That’s why I don’t cross there near the end of the cycle.

From what I think you’re saying you do, it looks like your route is my idea for fixing this intersection – run the trail over to cross further down so there’s no right-turning cars to deal with.

[dasgeh]

@baiskeli 52133 wrote:

Yeah, and the cars turning right from the east to the bridge are a hazard because they are looking to their left for a chance to turn and may not see you on their right crossing–especially if you are approaching from the east and in their right shoulder blind spot. That’s when they have a green.

When the cars coming from 66 have green, they don’t have to look over their left shoulder for traffic coming from the left. Green means they can turn right if the crosswalk is clear.

I completely agree with you about the defensive cycling, but for the reason I stated. The danger here is that drivers don’t look for (ok, I’ll add) and appropriately yield to crosswalk traffic. So as long as you expect that, it’s not that hard to get through this crosswalk. Especially at the beginning of the cycle. rcannon, you have a leading ped cycle whether you’re heading east or west. I do find it’s safest to cross in that part of the cycle, but as long as I make eye contact with drivers and am ready to stop for drivers being aggressive, I don’t find it impossible to get through that intersection in other parts of the cycle.

[Honeybadger6]

@DismalScientist 52030 wrote:

The most bad-ass cyclist always has the right of way.:rolleyes:

In that case, I WIN! I’ll be taking that to the bank…

[Honeybadger6]

@DCAKen 52094 wrote:

More like the most dumb ass cyclist always has the right of way

Doh! I’ll continue zippering per two wheels’ directive…

[baiskeli]

@dasgeh 52150 wrote:

When the cars coming from 66 have green, they don’t have to look over their left shoulder for traffic coming from the left. Green means they can turn right if the crosswalk is clear.

Oops, sorry, like I said, it’s complicated. You are of course correct, on the right turn on red they’re looking left.

[baiskeli]

Here’s why I included the right on red.

Car is coming off the Parkway and waiting at the red to turn right onto Lynn toward the bridge. Looking left for a gap. Cyclist comes from behind driver’s shoulder. At that intersection, the pedestrian crossing light turns green a second or two before the light for cars turns green. A driver who was trying to turn right on red may not see you in the crosswalk at that point. And when the car’s light turns green, he/she may not even bother to look, and just turn. I’ve had three or four near-misses in that situation where if I wasn’t looking carefully at those cars, I would have been right in their path.

[dasgeh]

@baiskeli 52286 wrote:

Here’s why I included the right on red.

Car is coming off the Parkway and waiting at the red to turn right onto Lynn toward the bridge. Looking left for a gap. Cyclist comes from behind driver’s shoulder. At that intersection, the pedestrian crossing light turns green a second or two before the light for cars turns green. A driver who was trying to turn right on red may not see you in the crosswalk at that point. And when the car’s light turns green, he/she may not even bother to look, and just turn. I’ve had three or four near-misses in that situation where if I wasn’t looking carefully at those cars, I would have been right in their path.

I’m not disputing that you have to be very careful with drivers – many of them don’t look to see if there are people in the crosswalk. I agree that making eye contact with each driver who will cross your path (there are two lanes, I’ve even seen a car go around and create a third) is very important. But it’s doable. I worry that newbs who hear about Lynn and Lee will think “there’s no way I could possibly cross there” and give up. It’s very possible to cross there. If you’re not comfortable at very low speeds, it’s best to dismount and walk your bike, so you can stop on a dime. If you wait so you’re crossing at the very beginning of the walking person so all cars have red, it’s easier. It’s also easier to cross with other bikes and peds. It’s annoying to go so slowly, possibly dismount, not be able to use the full “walking person”, but it’s at most a 1 minute delay.

So new people reading this, it’s not inherently a death trap. It’s a place to be very, very careful, and not expect to go fast, but you can get through it. And welcome to cycling. Despite this one intersection, it really is AWESOME!

[baiskeli]

@dasgeh 52311 wrote:

I’m not disputing that you have to be very careful with drivers – many of them don’t look to see if there are people in the crosswalk. I agree that making eye contact with each driver who will cross your path (there are two lanes, I’ve even seen a car go around and create a third) is very important. But it’s doable. I worry that newbs who hear about Lynn and Lee will think “there’s no way I could possibly cross there” and give up. It’s very possible to cross there. If you’re not comfortable at very low speeds, it’s best to dismount and walk your bike, so you can stop on a dime. If you wait so you’re crossing at the very beginning of the walking person so all cars have red, it’s easier. It’s also easier to cross with other bikes and peds. It’s annoying to go so slowly, possibly dismount, not be able to use the full “walking person”, but it’s at most a 1 minute delay.

So new people reading this, it’s not inherently a death trap. It’s a place to be very, very careful, and not expect to go fast, but you can get through it. And welcome to cycling. Despite this one intersection, it really is AWESOME!

Exactly!

This crossing is okay if you just do it right. It’s one of those crossing where you shouldn’t push your luck, like some cyclists do at other crossing (and sometimes this one).

Hope to see lots of newbs crossing there tomorrow from the Rosslyn pit stop.

[BobK]

Excellent additional comments, guys! I am getting a pretty good sense of the issues I will be running into in Rosslyn tomorrow.

I think I have been incredibly spoiled on my normal ride. No really bad intersections to speak of at all. I tip my hat to those of you who have to deal with this route on a daily basis!

Thanks, again.

Bob

[Author]

Posts